Thursday, November 14, 2013

Summer and Fall Convention Season Wrap Up

The summer and fall convention season was so packed for me this year that I had little time to sit down and collect my thoughts between each show. Since I never had the chance to post about Gen Con or Rose City Comic Con, I thought I'd write a brief wrap up for all the conventions I attended in 2013.

As each year passes, unless something out of the ordinary happens at a convention, I sometimes struggle to think of something new to write about each one. It's not because the conventions are boring or that I'm losing interest. When you spend most of a convention sitting behind a table listening to
the constant murmur of background noise (it sounds exactly like what you
hear for a few seconds on Antiques Roadshow after they tell you how much
the thing is worth) and watching a steady stream of people pass by in the aisles, experiences can start to blur together. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on that those of us working the hall sometimes miss out on. (And, though very fun, it really is work–it can take me up to a week to "recover" especially if I had to travel to a convention. Talking for several days straight can zap the energy out of an introvert like me!)

The only good picture of any of my booths this year.

The highlight of every convention is the people that return to my table year after year. I would give a shout out to all of these fans and friends, but I don't want to put anyone on the spot. If you're reading, you know who you are. :) And thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my work and keeping me company at the con, whichever con it may be.

There are two wonderful people that I look forward to seeing at Gen Con every year that I know would love a shout out though: Jim and Crystal Martin! Jim Martin (AKA Gary Gnu) has worked as a muppeteer and director on Sesame Street and as a puppeteer on many other beloved shows including Mister Roger's Neighborhood and The Great Space Coaster. They are trying to revive The Great Space Coaster and I know they would love it if you would visit and "like" their Facebook page.

Gen Con Indy

This year at Gen Con I had the unique experience of judging the Art Show, a privilege bestowed upon the previous year's Best in Show winner. It was a fun but daunting task to pick award winners from amongst such a skilled group of people. Outside of art school critiques, I had never judged the work of other artists before. (I judge my own art plenty.) Luckily, it was not only up to me; my fellow judges Brom and Jon Schindehette were there to offer insight. After each of us made a circuit of the show alone, we got together to discuss our favorite artists and pieces. My list must have had at least two dozen names on it. I had a hard time narrowing my selections down. The top prizes went to Aaron Miller for Best in Show, and Omar Rayyan, Elizabeth Alba, and Milivoj Ceran, for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prize, respectively. In addition to the other awards, each judge may choose an artist or a specific piece of artwork to receive the Juror's Choice award. My Juror's Choice pick went to Alexandra Douglass.

Rose City Comic Con

The Oregon Convention Center

This year was our first visit to Rose City Comic Con, which was also our first visit to Portland, Oregon. We enjoyed both. The convention is still on the small side, but growing. Instead of having to hunt aisle after aisle for our table, Vinod and I found it about thirty seconds after entering the exhibit hall–a welcome relief from long walks with suitcases and boxes in tow. One thing that stood out to me in particular (and it may have been because the smaller size of the convention allowed more room for cosplayers to walk around the exhibit hall comfortably) was the large collection of excellent costumes.

Unfortunately our crappy camera did not capture them very well but here are a few:

This has got to be the cutest cosplay couple I have ever seen!
(From Kiki's Delivery Service)

A Batconversation!

Two very well done Star Wars costumes. I'm happy to be noticing a resurgence of Leias from A New Hope instead of the slave Leias that were popular a few years ago.

We liked Portland and are looking forward to another trip in the near future. Driving around was a breeze compared to Seattle, we ate some great breakfasts and yummy sweets from Sweetpea Bakery every day, and maxed out parking meters–twice–spending far too much time at Powell's Books. If you ever wanted to buy an oversized, cumbersome Norman Rockwell book with all of his Saturday Evening Post covers for $20, Powell's is the place to go! (Yes, we bought that.)

GeekGirlCon

2013 marked my second time attending this three-year-old convention. (For a description of GeekGirlCon, why it's called what it's called and what it's about, check out my 2012 post about the convention.) Much like all the hip conventions seem to be doing, it's growing. Conventions these days! Weekend passes sold out in advance this year. It was noticeably more crowded in the exhibit hall. I was pleasantly surprised by my increase in business since last year, too. Yay GeekgirlCon!

Well, I think that covers just about everything. I hope I haven't bored everyone too much with my Convention Tales! Onward to the posting of art!